The Real VIP

Ichinose didn't answer. She had her suspicions, but she couldn't be sure that was what Ryuuen was thinking, so she chose to remain silent.

"Boring. Have you considered our deal?" Ryuuen gestured to the waitress, asking her to bring Ichinose a fresh cup of hot coffee.

"Four and a half million. I want to know how you learned the VIP information for our class."

As expected of Ichinose—she really was loaded. Half a million just to buy one piece of information from Ryuuen.

"Deal. But I need to borrow Kobashi Yume's phone from your class. It won't have any adverse effect on your class. Kobashi Yume is in the Dragon Group, and I have my own plan."

Ryuuen was quite satisfied in the end. This deal had even netted him an extra half a million. Even if he told Ichinose that there was a pattern to selecting VIPs, it would be difficult for her class, given its current situation, to use that to deduce the VIPs of other classes.

Ichinose looked somewhat bitter. Whether the coffee didn't suit her taste or Ryuuen's deal hadn't satisfied her, the considerate Ryuuen decided to give her an additional reminder. "Ichinose, you're a member of the Student Council, right?"

"Yeah. Does Ryuuen-sensei need something from the Student Council?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to remind you to be careful around Nagumo Miyabi."

"Huh? Nagumo-senpai is a good person. Why should I be careful of him?" Ichinose was surprised. She didn't understand why Ryuuen wanted her to watch out for Nagumo Miyabi. Back when she had applied to join the Student Council, Horikita Manabu had rejected her. She had only managed to join with Nagumo-senpai's help.

Without answering Ichinose, Ryuuen returned to the lounge. Hiyori and the others had already figured out the list of VIPs.

Ryuuen hadn't gone to make a deal with Katsuragi. During their first discussion, Katsuragi had already made his stance clear: he would never cooperate with Ryuuen again. More importantly, Ryuuen knew the guy was broke now. There weren't many points left to squeeze out of him.

He had already offended Sakayanagi's faction. If he extorted Katsuragi's faction too and accidentally pushed them into reaching an agreement to deal with him first, that would be troublesome.

Ryuuen knew that Ichinose and Ayanokoji were definitely plotting something in the Rabbit Group. Unfortunately for them, Ryuuen hadn't given them any room to act. Ibuki had acted as a traitor in the Rabbit Group and exposed Karuizawa Kei as the VIP. Once the notification came that the Rabbit Group had ended its exam, Ryuuen entered the Dragon Group's discussion room to begin the final discussion.

"Everyone got here early." Ryuuen greeted the people in the discussion room. Only a few Class C students nodded back at him; everyone else remained silent.

"What's wrong, Suzune? Are you going to stay quiet like a turtle too? That's not your style." The turtle Ryuuen referred to was Katsuragi. Katsuragi knew Ryuuen was mocking him, but he had no intention of arguing with him.

"I still maintain my original position. Outcome One is our best option. I hope that, during this final discussion, everyone can reveal their phones. It would be harmful to no one." Horikita looked at Ryuuen, then at Katsuragi.

The Dragon Group's VIP was from Class C, so Katsuragi was somewhat tempted by Horikita's proposal. By maintaining silence, Class A had nothing to lose in the Dragon Group, but they had nothing to gain either. If they could achieve Outcome One, Class A could benefit as well and receive quite a few Personal Points. Katsuragi had been called broke before, and he really was short on points.

So when Horikita looked toward Katsuragi, he nodded. When she turned back to Ryuuen, he chuckled. "It's not impossible for me to agree to your request, but the contract we signed before has to be extended. I'm a little reluctant to let you go now."

Naturally, Ryuuen wasn't stupid enough to agree to Horikita outright. That would have looked far too deliberate, too unnatural. After all, he had previously said that Horikita was too naive.

Only by attaching a condition would Horikita and the others avoid suspecting him.

Horikita was clearly displeased. "This is something that benefits everyone. Why should I alone have to pay a price for it?"

"If you don't agree, then Class C won't hand over our phones. I regret to inform you that the VIP is among our Class C members. You can try guessing which one. Maybe you'll get it right." Ryuuen stretched lazily. He didn't know whether Horikita would accept his condition. In Ryuuen's eyes, Horikita wasn't the type to selflessly sacrifice herself.

"The Rabbit Group ended its exam early. Was that your work, Ryuuen?" Rather than agree immediately, Horikita first asked about the Rabbit Group.

"Think whatever you want." Ryuuen gave a noncommittal reply.

Question: What did it feel like to have a beautiful girl stare at you nonstop?

Ryuuen's answer: It put him in a great mood.

"Fine, I agree. The contract can be extended by half a semester." Horikita finally yielded. If they achieved Outcome One, the three Class D students in the Dragon Group could each receive five hundred thousand points. One and a half million points in exchange for Horikita serving as Ryuuen's cook for two more months wasn't a loss. Or rather, it was an absolute win.

Ryuuen shook his head and raised one finger. "One semester."

A full semester was still profitable for Horikita. When she had proposed half a semester, she had already expected Ryuuen to raise the price. They had known each other for quite a while, after all, and Horikita understood what kind of person he was. Ryuuen was extremely greedy. Whenever he held the advantage, he always sought the greatest possible gain.

"Fine." Horikita answered decisively.

"Was my demand too low?" Ryuuen hadn't expected her to agree so readily.

Of course, Ryuuen didn't go back on his word and keep raising the price. He directly tossed his phone onto the table. "I'm the VIP."

At that moment, Kanzaki Ryuuji's eyelid twitched. He knew that Ryuuen's VIP was Kobashi Yume from his own class. However, he wasn't kind enough to remind Horikita. Outcome Two was acceptable for Class B as well. If someone from Class A or Class D got greedy and submitted an answer early, then achieving Outcome Four would be even better for Class B.

Horikita inspected the phone Ryuuen had thrown onto the table. There really was a message from the school inside it, but Horikita felt that Ryuuen's smile was strange. Whenever Ryuuen smiled like that, she had a bad feeling.

After exiting the message screen, Horikita had no intention of prying into the other private contents of Ryuuen's phone, but she still couldn't avoid seeing the pink kitten wallpaper.

"Ryuuen, you like kittens too?"

Facing Horikita's teasing, Ryuuen snatched the phone back from her. "Peeking at other people's privacy isn't good. I don't just like cats. I also like maids."

Horikita recalled that she had worn a maid outfit to cook for Ryuuen before. At the time, he had indeed required her to wear Cat Ears and a cat tail, but Horikita didn't think Ryuuen would choose a pink background because of that.

She took out her own phone, found Ryuuen's name in her contacts, and called him.

"If I spread my wings, I said I would never return."

A familiar ringtone began to play. But the phone ringing wasn't the one in Ryuuen's hand—it came from the pocket of Suzuki Eijun from Class C.

"I aimed for that vast, blue, blue sky."

The ringtone kept playing, while Ryuuen shamelessly said nothing.

Suzuki Eijun took out his phone, unsure whether he should answer it.

Horikita directly hung up, glaring at Ryuuen. Ryuuen could only spread his hands helplessly and exchange phones with Suzuki Eijun, taking his own phone back.

Now everyone knew that Suzuki Eijun was the VIP. Before the exam, Ryuuen had swapped phones with him and claimed to be the VIP, intending to confuse and deceive everyone.

Even after his scheme was exposed, Ryuuen felt no shame. When everyone believed this was the truth, that was when they gave up thinking. Ryuuen wouldn't use a pink wallpaper—but would Suzuki Eijun?

Whether one doubted everything or believed everything, both were too easy. Both amounted to giving up thinking.